A Goat Unpersuadable
by BrickmasterGuy
Summary: "We're not murderers! Like, if we'd had a choice we wouldn't have done it." "You know, one time a guy followed me home. Like, a guy from the tracks." -Continuation of A Silent Band Practice-
1. Last Night

The bedroom door swung open, revealing Bea and Mae. "Sorry about that," Bea said, returning to the living room.

"...It's fine…" Gregg responded as Bea and Mae sat down, "Uh, are you two…?"

Angus and Gregg put their phones down. The two girls had just had a loud argument that made it seem like they were breaking up, which Gregg was certainly asking about. It was a rational question to ask, really.

"Oh, no, it's fine," Bea assured. This had already gotten more awkward than Bea hoped it would. This was supposed to just be about putting the nights prior aside.

"Alright, cool." Gregg nodded, before sighing, "...So, last night, huh?" He chuckled almost nervously.

Mae scratched the back of her neck, looking down. Bea lit another cigarette. Germ anxiously shifted his position. Angus readjusted his glasses. No one really wanted to talk about what had happened. It was an awkward situation for everyone involved. Yet, they knew that they had to talk about it. If it was left unsaid, it would probably eat away at their relationships.

Mae sighed, "I'm sorry."

Gregg seemed confused. "Whaddya mean 'I'm sorry?'"

"I mean I'm sorry. I totally dragged all of you into this."

"Bea was the one who wanted us to come here and help."

"That's not what I meant. I meant that I was the reason you all had to come here. I joined the cult and messed everything up. I just wanted to apologize."

"You don't have to apologize for shit, Mae."

Mae disagreed with Gregg. She felt guilty for everything that had happened. Neither Gregg nor Bea being sentimental would change her mind about that.

"Yes I do. I lied about Bea. I made you drive all the way over here. I caused you all to get hurt. I caused everyone in that mine to die. I caused Bea's dad to die."

Both Gregg and Bea inhaled, ready to disagree with Mae. Both felt that Mae was very, very wrong. Bea began first.

"None of us are hurt, Mae. We got knocked unconscious, but we didn't really get hurt. Also, Mae, you didn't kill my dad. I already told you that," Bea sternly, yet half-lovingly stated.

"Mae we drove over here because we were worried about you and Bea. We wanted to make sure you two were alright. We did it because we were being actual friends, for like, the first time. And Mae, those people in the mine deserved to die. Not Bea's dad, but the other cultists. Your weird aunt told us about them and they deserved to be awesomely beaten up by you! You totally did the right thing," Gregg explained, unnaturally caring.

Mae looked over to Angus as Gregg finished talking. He simply nodded.

"But still, none of this would have happened if I had just had ethics and morals and smart thoughts and didn't join a terrible cult," Mae continued.

Angus spoke up, "Mae, from what your aunt told us, it seemed like they were trying to kill us anyway. I actually think that without you in the cult, we probably would've died. Don't blame yourself. It was a messed up, confusing situation and no one's to blame for it except for the cult."

Well that was a terrible thought. What if her friends had died? They would have the same fate as Casey did. Missing posters and search teams and… Mae couldn't think like that. She did what she had to and saved her friends. Angus was right, like always.

Mae for a moment before chuckling, "You're too smart for me, Angus." He smiled in response.

"Also, thanks for getting rid of 'em. I can finally sleep at night again," Germ added.

"Well that's good," Mae agreed.

Bea exhaled smoke. "Yeah, so… do you guys wanna do something now?"

"Oh my god, yes. I was just waiting for you to mention it. I'm bored as shit. What should we do?" Gregg loudly said.

"Ummm… band practice?" Mae suggested.

"Nah, we don't have our instruments with us," Gregg explained.

"We could just hang out and like, do things people do when they hang out," Mae said.

"Yeah! We haven't done that in forever!" Gregg shouted.

"I've got alcohol," Bea mentioned.

"Sweet!" Gregg excitedly yelled.

"Bug, you're not having any alcohol," Angus explained.

Oh, right. Angus was still trying to keep Gregg from getting shit-faced drunk after what happened at that one party years ago. They were lucky that Aunt Molly let him off the hook.

"Whaaaaat? Come on, Cap'n! I'm more responsible now!" Gregg pouted, folding his arms.

"No," Angus insisted.

Gregg simply stared at Angus. He tried to look the saddest he could.

Angus sighed, "Fine. But, if you break anything or hurt anyone then you're dealing with it."

"Alright!" Gregg beamed.

"Okay, now does anyone want some cheap, shitty beer?" Bea asked.

"Yeah!" Gregg shouted.

"I guess I'll have one," Angus said.

"Gimme one," Germ replied.

"I'm not sure how I feel about giving beer to such a young, uncorrupted child," Bea said, a smirk creeping onto her face.

"Fuck off. I feel like shit," Germ retorted, clearly annoyed.

"Alright." Bea agreed, looking over to Mae, "What about you?"

Mae turned to face Bea. "Oh, uh, sure."

"Okay. Just don't throw up this time," Bea warned, turning to walk to the fridge.

"Ugh. That was different."

"How?"

"I was just… Ugh, it just was!"

Bea chuckled as she tried to grab the beer from the fridge.

Mae was just a mess at that party. But, it was probably a good thing that she didn't end up hooking up with Cole again. Or else she would've missed out on Bea. The great gay goth. The adorable emo.

"Here ya go," Bea said, handing Mae a bottle of beer. It looked to be, like Bea had said, exceptionally cheap.

Bea sat down at the stool by the counter and grabbed a bottle opener, first using on her beer, before passing it around for everyone to use.

"So… Gregg, how's it going in Bright Harbor?" Mae asked, taking a sip of her beer. She didn't really like beer, but she still felt like drinking it, for some reason or another.

Gregg's face lit up as he took in a big breath, "Oh, Mae, it's amazing! Our apartment is great, thanks to Angus. And, the city's always alive and shit and looks so cool! Work's going great for me and Angus is applying for a job in IT! And, Mae, I just can't explain to you how many gay clubs there are. Like you wouldn't _believe_ it."

"Yeah, but we really miss you guys over there," Angus added, purposefully glancing over Gregg's last statement.

"I'm just too great to not miss, huh?" Mae joked.

Angus quietly chuckled, "Of course, Mae."

The room went silent, however, as Angus finished speaking. It had only taken minutes for conversation topics to dwindle. Only near-silent sips could be heard.

God, it sucked that they had already grown so far apart. Angus and Gregg hadn't been gone for that long, and yet it felt like they hadn't talked for forever. It certainly didn't help that Mae sucked at talking. The silence seemed to burn at Mae and cause her to sweat, causing her to fidget.

"...So, anyone wanna play a board game or something? I've got Settlers of Catan," Bea said.

"Oh fuck yeah!" Gregg shouted.


	2. Too Drunk and too Gay

"Whaddya mean you don't like that trade? I'm pretty much giving you free wood!" Mae argued.

The game of Catan had gone on for about twenty minutes, and everyone was starting to get a bit drunk. Mae only got louder, Gregg and Angus were flirting more and more, and Germ was about to pass out. Bea was the closest to an adult; the cheap beer wasn't enough to getherdrunk.

"I only take wood fromAngus,thank you," Gregg slurred, causing Angus to blush.

God, how was everyone already so drunk? Had no one here ever drank alcohol? Bea sighed as she reached for her beer. Where was this get together going?

"Well then it's your turn, Gregg," Mae said. She put the dice down on the table in front of him.

Mae wasn't feeling all that well. The shouting and energy Mae was showing felt fake to her. She felt exhausted and she didn't really know why. She wanted to talk with and hang out with her friends, of course, but she just felt… tired.

Mae was starting to zone out. What Gregg was saying became simple background noise. Everything turned to a hazy blur. Except those hexagons on the table. The board taunted her with all of its shapes. Mae could already feel what was happening, and she hated the fact that it was. Why couldn't she just have a normal day without having all this stupid stuff happen to her? Not that she had anyone to blame though, really. She was the one who joined the cult and forced her friends to come here, and she was the one who brought it up again, and she was the one who ruined everything.

Mae desperately wanted and tried to think positive. She thought about what Gregg and Angus and Bea had said earlier: that this wasn't her fault, but it did nothing to calm her or fix anything. She just felt like it was lies, and that she truly had ruined everything. Mae didn't want any of this, but she felt at the same time that she deserved it. God, she was a mess.

"Mae, are you gonna roll?" Bea asked, turning the dice in her hands which were outstretched in front of Mae.

Mae quickly focused on the dice in front of her, grabbing them. "Oh, yeah, sorry." A four.

Mae grabbed her resources from the messy stacks and passed the dice over to Gregg again, who wasn't paying attention to the game at all. Hadn't it been her turn just a few seconds ago?

It felt like Mae was disconnecting from the world. Time felt fake and the space she was in seemed to blur as her consciousness hitched. It felt like everything she was doing this game was just automatic, like she was on autopilot. Did she even have control over what she was doing? It didn't feel like it.

"Mae. The dice. Roll them," Bea said, holding the two dice. Mae grabbed the dice, noticing that Germ was completely passed out. How the hell were they still playing if no one was paying any attention?

Mae rolled the dice. Nine. She grabbed her cards, as did Bea. She put the dice in front of Gregg who was certainly more interested in Angus that the game.

God, was Mae losing touch with reality? Her friends? Her morals? Everything that had happened in the last week seemed crazy now. Why had she done the things that she had? Why did she do that? She murdered someone. She killed someone. She ended someone's life. She took their job. She had blood on her hands. Red shapes.

Bea rolled the dice. God, this game sucked when no one was into it. Two. Bea built a road. They should really stop playing. Germ's wasted, Gregg's only minutes away from taking wood from Angus, and Mae's zoning out. Bea was practically playing this game by herself. This sucked.

Germ suddenly sat up, and Bea looked over at him. He didn't look good. And, as if to prove Bea right, he ran over to the bathroom, kneeling before the porcelain throne. God, what had gotten into him? Or rather, gotten out of him. Ha, Bea was great at jokes.

Bea slowly stood up and walked over to Germ, however. She didn't want anyone dying or anything like that. Germ was slumped over, looking completely out of it. His hat sat on the table, as it slipped off while he was passed out. And that was a good thing, too. If it hadn't, it probably would be in the vomit filled toilet right now.

Bea patted Germ on the back, trying to give some sort of… assurance? She ought to be saying 'Just let it all out, bro.' Germ heaved. God, was he okay? He couldn't be _that_ drunk. Was he actually sick?

Bea tried to look at him better, only to see that he looked absolutely miserable. Well, he hadn't slept well for a while. And he hadn't eaten anything since at least the day before, Bea being with him since he was last at her apartment. He was also only eighteen and not even old enough to legally drink. Well, Bea should probably take Germ home.

Bea walked back into the living room, and towards the two guys. "Okay, so, Angus, Germ probably needs to be taken home. He's kinda sick. Could you help me carry him back to his house?"

Angus hummed to agree, yet continued to look lovingly at Gregg. They were practically about ready to strip and do it on her couch. Bea tapped Angus on the shoulder.

"Yeah, alright." Angus said, slowly standing up, "Where is he?"

"He's in the bathroom. Be careful picking him up though, he might throw up on you," Bea explained while Angus away.

Bea looked over towards Mae, who was staring at the board. She seemed completely out of it. Bea tapped her just to be sure that she was okay. Mae didn't even acknowledge the fact that she had been tapped, though. She was having another 'shapes' thing, no doubt.

"Mae? Do you wanna stay here or should I take you home, too?" Bea asked with as much compassion as she could muster.

Mae turned to look at the source of the voice, only to see a mass of dark shapes. It wasn't real.

The cat continued to stare blankly at Bea, barely even blinking. Bea sighed. She should take her home. Bea grabbed Mae by the hand and pulled her to her feet.

Bea looked into Mae's eyes for a few seconds before turning to look at Angus, who now had Germ in his arms. He held him as carefully as he could, as if he was extremely wounded or something.

"Gregg, you might as well come with us," Bea said. Gregg stood up, stumbling as he walked towards Angus.

Bea led Mae towards the door and stepped outside, and Angus and Gregg followed. Bea let go of Mae to pull out her key and lock the door behind her, before grabbing her girlfriend's hand again.

The group made its way to the elevator, waited for it to arrive at the floor, and stepped in.

"Can I press the button?" Gregg giddily asked. Bea laughed. He was such a child.

"Go ahead," Bea replied. Gregg smiled and pressed the button for the ground floor.


	3. Making Amends and (not) Making Love

They headed towards Germ's house first, feeling that dealing with Germ first was more important. Angus kept shifting the way he was holding Germ, being sure to not to shake or drop him. Continuing to hold the bird was difficult, however, as Gregg leaned on his boyfriend as he walked.

Germ opened his eyes a few times while being carried, blearily looking around before going unconscious again. He certainly didn't seem alright. Bea tried to reason that this was just because he was drunk, but she subconsciously knew that that wasn't really it. He hadn't eaten, and had therefore drank on an empty stomach, which of course would only get him drunker faster. And he had gotten his head bashed in on the elevator in the mine. And he was probably dehydrated, too. Basically he just needed to lie down and not get drunk.

Before long they made it to Germ's house, and Bea knocked on the door for Angus. Gregg sleepily and drunkenly slumped on his boyfriend, still, and Mae simply spaced out. Not dissociating, just not focusing. The front door opened to Germ's mom. They explained that Germ had thrown up while they were hanging out, leaving out the getting drunk part. Mae also remembered to thank Germ's mom for letting them stay at her house after the cave stuff. Almost overwhelmed by everything, Germ's mom simply took her son in and laid him down and dismissed the visitors at the front door, thanking them for bringing Germ over.

"...You think he'll end up dying?" Gregg slurred as they walked away from Germ's abode and over to Mae's, referring to Germ.

"Why would he die, even?" Bea asked.

"Maybe he's, like… sicker than we think he is."

"He's not gonna die, Bug, he just got sick after getting drunk on an empty stomach," Angus said, getting sober extremely quickly.

"I didn't eat anything either, and I didn't get that drunk," Gregg proudly proclaimed, stumbling and almost falling as he walked. Angus snickered.

Once they made it out of the woods, the walk became brisker. The roots and the rocks made it harder to walk quickly. And it didn't take long to arrive at Mae's house.

"Okay, so you're gonna drop Mae off… even though her mom thinks that you two hate each other?" Gregg mentioned to Bea.

"Oh shit, you're right. I forgot about that." Bea sighed, turning to her girlfriend, "Mae, we're gonna have to mention that to your mom."

Mae didn't want to do that, cause her mom would just ask why she lied about her and Bea, and the real explanation for that couldn't work at all. She'd have to make something up, like she had gotten drunk. No, that wouldn't work really. Her mon would be mad about her lying and getting drunk. But, Bea had already knocked on the door, so she would have to say something.

The front door opened to Mae's mom, who was surprisingly home. She noticed Bea almost immediately, and looked over to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, I lied about Bea yelling at me before. We… had an argument before and I was mad," Mae awkwardly made up.

Candy eyed her daughter, mulling over whether she was telling the truth or not, and why she might be lying. "What'd you two argue about, Mae?"

"Oh, uh… well—"

"I told her I was thinking of closing down the Ol' Pickaxe and going to college somewhere out of state and Mae didn't like that. It got a little out of hand before, but I talked to her about it and now it's all alright, Mrs. Borowski," Bea said suavely.

Feeling that the two girls were lying, but being unable to prove it, Candy agreed to accept Bea again, even after Mae's outright outburst towards her days ago. Mae promised to talk to her a bit later online, and then she made her way inside, upstairs, and to sleep; the alcohol had made her tired. Angus and Gregg, who had been distracted by some sort of shadowy shape in the bushes, came up to the door and spoke to Mae's mom before she went back inside. They discussed their new life in Bright Harbor, Angua trying his best to apply a filter onto his drunk boyfriend. They mentioned how long they would be staying in town and Germ getting sick, and then they parted ways.

"Alright, so I guess you two are coming back to my apartment." Bea said, "Don't do anything too raunchy, okay?"

Angus chuckled, knowing exactly what Bea was referring to. And as it turned out, Gregg also got it. "What? Just cause I'm drunk doesn't mean I'm 'ranchy'! I deserve to be treated with respect, too! I'm only a little bit horny!" Gregg screamed loud enough for the neighborhood to hear.

Bea laughed. "Look, I couldn't care less what you two want to do in your own time in your own space, but you two are in my apartment, so please don't have fucking sex everywhere. If you really can't hold yourself back then you can get a hotel room, alright? Not dealing with it."

"Come on, I'm sure you've done stuff with Mae," Gregg smiled, nudging Bea with his elbow. Angus continued to blush horribly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"No, actually, I haven't. We aren't ravenous sex beasts."

Gregg giggled. "Oh, wow. I like that, 'ravenous sex beasts'. Wow, Mae's really rubbed off on you, hasn't she? Probably in more ways than one, too, if you're picking up what I'm putting down. Eh? Eh? Get it?"

They arrived at the apartment building and walked inside, Angus trying to make sure Gregg knew he was to be quieter inside. They stepped into the elevator and Gregg again pressed the button to send them up.

Later everything had settled down a little. Gregg and Angus had comfortable, but not too comfortable, on the couch. She'd checked to be sure. And Bea was lying down in her room on her computer. She'd briefly talked to Mar about what she had said at her front door. Bea explained that she simply killed two birds with one stone by saying what she wanted to say to Mae later while also explaining what the argument was about. Mae was unsettled, so to speak, with the idea of Bea closing down the store and moving away, but after a bit of going back and forth, she agrees she'd be supportive of whatever Bea decided. Satisfied with that answer, Bea bid farewell and closed the laptop so she could go to bed.


	4. Lost Sleep

Mae couldn't sleep well that night. She tossed and turned with the images of the dead in her mind. She had ended lives. Literally killed people. Mae felt a guilt fester inside of her, almost physically keeping her eyes open. She'd taken that one kid's job. She'd killed Bea's dad. She'd killed all of those cultists. She had. And it terrified her.

Mae could feel some sort of presence, exactly like she had in the mine. She hoped it wasn't Him, but she knew deep down it was. Or perhaps, worse, it was a cultist. But it couldn't be, could it? No, they all died when the mine collapsed. But they lived last time, didn't they? There was no telling what had happened to them, really; she wasn't even conscious when the mine collapsed, so she really had to rely on what Aunt Mallcop said. She could've lied, right? The whole thing could be made up, specifically to trick her.

Mae felt too warm under the covers, and clearly wasn't going to going to sleep anytime soon, so she sat up and grabbed her computer. Mae opened it to see no new messages. Duh. She opened Demontower, thinking that playing it might be enough to tire her to sleep. Halfway through playing, however, she paused and got up to go to the bathroom.

Going up the stairs and not tripping was difficult, but she managed to do it this time. But, as she made her way back to her bed, she noticed something. There was something outside the window. Not _right_ outside the window, but there was definitely someone by a tree outside. But of course, that was just her paranoid imagination, coming up with things to justify her thoughts about the mine. But, it could also be something worse, so Mae pressed her face up against the cool glass to see the figure better.

She squinted her eyes, and, yes, there was certainly _something_ by that tree. But it also definitely _ran away_ before she could see who it was. Well, that settled it, didn't it? This fucking nightmare wasn't even close to over yet. Damn it. Why couldn't all of this just stop? She'd learned her lesson and her morals. Right? Mae had learned her lesson and had made amends. She wanted her and her friends to be left alone. Especially her friends. They hadn't done shit.

She could… she could try to catch up with the guy outside. She could put on her shoes and grab her phone and chase down the guy, end this whole ordeal prematurely. Or, she could put something over the window and lie back down and try to go to sleep. Pretend that this didn't happen. That wouldn't work, of course, but she could try.

She had to, at the very least, try and stop the guy, right? She gathered up as much energy as she could at whatever time it was, and she rushed to don her shoes and grab her phone. Being careful to be quick as well as quiet, she made her way down the stairs and to the door. But, she briefly looked over towards the living room, catching a glimpse of her unconscious father in his chair, the television still playing Garbo and Malloy. But that didn't matter, catching this guy did. So, Mae opened the door, stepped outside, and closed it behind her.

It was pretty humid outside, yet surprisingly cold for spring or summer. She shivered and half-wished she had brought a jacket or a hat. But that wasn't her biggest concern at the moment. She turned and hurried in the direction of the tree the figure had been standing by and the direction the figure had ran. The figure was, of course, not by the tree anymore. Mae was sure they had run in the same direction as the woods and the mine. So, she gave chase.

It didn't take long for Mae to get tired of running. She was tired and out of shape, and that was without mentioning the rocks and bumps in the ground she was consistently almost tripping over. Her phone's flashlight could only illuminate the ground so well. Mae stopped and held her phone up to show what was up ahead. She saw the figure out in the distance.

Mae began to run again, once again filled with adrenaline fueled energy. She might be able to catch the guy if she really exerted herself. So, she pushed herself and tried her hardest to catch the figure somewhere ahead of her. Every stride had Mae almost falling over a rock or hole in the ground, and it didn't help that she was just about in the woods. And despite her best efforts the figure seemed to be getting away.

"Hey!" Mae shouted, panting, "Come back here!"

The figure stopped for a moment and then began to, instead of running, walk away from Mae. Mae, sweating and wheezing, continued her chase of the figure. How had she actually gotten the guy to stop running? Maybe this was a big misunderstanding and Mae was just chasing some random innocent guy.

The figure, however, was undoubtedly leading Mae to the mine. It was always several meters away, despite the fact that Mae was running and the figure was simply walking. Mae was, on the bright side, certainly able to go to sleep now. She was terribly tired and had fur matted down to her body with sweat. She had easily run all the way to the mine, and that was way too far to run _that_ late when _that_ tired. She hoped that the guy would let up at some point soon. And the monkey's paw curled a finger.

The trees let through to a clearing, and before Mae was the mine. It had left a large divot in the ground where it had once taken up space. The entrance was barely recognizable, completely destroyed and covered. And the figure was nowhere to be seen.

Mae stopped and leaned against a tree as she tried to catch her breath. She was exhausted and would wait before trying to find the figure again. That wasn't destined to happen, however. Before she could even react she noticed the shadow approaching from her peripheral vision. The, as she now noticed more details, horned figure raised a club or bat of some sort. The moon light, as well as it lit up the clearing, didn't shine upon the figure who cleverly stood under the trees as he approached, clearly apprehensive about revealing his identity. The figure had raised the bat to the peak of its ascent, and quickly lowered it upon Mae's head, and she went out, unconscious. Once again she had hurt herself and gone unconscious while in the woods, and now she would know what her friends experienced in the mine's elevator. And this time she didn't even have time to think about whether she would live or not.


	5. Continental Breakfast

Gregg opened his eyes and slowly sat up, yawning. His head ached from the alcohol he had drank the day prior. He looked over to see his boyfriend asleep next to him. Usually Angus woke up before him, being more responsible and more used to waking up early and sticking to a schedule. He must've been tired. Gregg stood up and stretched. Him and Angus had stayed in a hotel room not too far away from town, and would be staying there for a few more days. They decided to be considerate and not bother Bea in her apartment the whole time they were in town. That was Angus's idea.

Gregg squatted down and zipped open his bag he had brought with him to Possum Springs. They hadn't really expected to stay for longer than a day or two, and already had to wash all of the clothes they had brought. There was a washing machine somewhere in the hotel, but Angus was the only one with a clean outfit left and Gregg wanted to take a shower.

"Cap'n?" Gregg said softly, trying to wake up his boyfriend without being too loud.

Angus turned over to face Gregg, keeping his eyes shut. "...What?" His voice was thick with sleep and a clear want to stay in bed.

"Could you go wash the clothes for me?"

Angus groaned and rolled out of bed. Gregg blushed and looked away; both him and Angus had slept without clothes. "I'm gonna go take a shower now."

Angus put on his glasses and, like his boyfriend, blushed and cleared his throat. "Yeah, alright."

Gregg walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Seconds later the water turned on. Angus grabbed the one pair of clean clothes he had and got dressed, and then grabbed the bag they had brought and, after pocketing the key, left the room. He made his way down to where the washer and dryer were. The hotel the two had stayed in was better than anything that was in, had once been in, or would be in Possum Springs, yet still it was run down and small. Not many people came to or stayed in Possum Springs though, so that didn't really impede their ability to find a room. It also meant that no one was using the one washing machine or one dryer. Angus put in the relatively small load, before noticing that the hotel actually had a crappy, yet free, breakfast. He grabbed a few things for himself and Gregg, being sure to grab some water for their hangovers, and carried both the food and his bag back up to his room.

Gregg didn't want to be, but he was worried about Mae. From what he had seen and what he'd heard from Bea, she wasn't doing too great. Apparently it'd only taken a week for her to consider and accept the idea of joining the cult. Mae completely blamed herself for Bea's dad's death, and apparently she had also killed some kid who worked at the taco place. Gregg felt horrible thinking it, but he was kind of scared of Mae. He supported her and cares about, of course, but he couldn't help but feel nervous when thinking about the fact that she had killed someone. She had always been an unstable, erratic person, but it seemed like she was doing it more and more. She had joined the cult, then left it a few days later. She'd devoted her entire life to the cult, breaking ties with her girlfriend and friends, lying to them all, before quickly leaving and reestablishing all of those ties. Gregg was scared for her and of her, and he wished that he wasn't. Mae was his _friend._ It wasn't good for him to be scared of his friend. He wasn't good for that. He wasn't good.

Gregg finished his shower and turned off the water, stepping out and drying off. He looked at himself in the foggy mirror. He really wasn't good, was he? Gregg fashioned the towel around his waist and stepped outside the bathroom. He closed his eyes as he raised his hand up to his head to slick his hair off to the side. When he opened his eyes, he noticed Angus sitting on the bed, eating a muffin.

"Hey, did you get the clothes washed?" Gregg wondered, walking over to the bed.

Angus swallowed and, with food still in his mouth, mumbled, "Yeah." Angus swallowed again. "It's in the bag."

"Thanks!" Gregg singsonged, grabbing the bag and placing it on the bed. He unzipped it and began to carefully rummage through the still warm clothes.

"Oh, by the way, I grabbed some stuff for you," Angus said, holding up the half eaten muffin. Gregg looked over to TV stand, and besides holding an old flat screen, it also held a banana, another muffin, and a small container of yogurt. "I just quickly grabbed some random crap, so I can go get you something else if you want."

"No no, it's fine, thanks!" Gregg smiled before pulling out a shirt and closing the bag. He dropped it back where it had laid a moment ago. "I'm gonna go get dressed first, though."

Angus nodded and took another bite out of his muffin. Gregg walked back into the bathroom and quickly began to put on the clothes. God, Angus was doing so many cool things. He was washing clothes for him and getting him breakfast, and Gregg was just being useless. He pulled shirt over his head, messing up his hair. Gregg really had a lot of things to fix about himself, didn't he? He was lazy and overly sensitive and entitled and trash. Gregg looked into the mirror, seeing himself. His horrible self. He began to style his hair with his hand and a crappy comb he had inexplicably left on the countertop. Gregg set down the comb and stepped out of the bathroom.

Gregg walked over and grabbed the food Angus had so kindly gotten for him, and sat down next to him on the bed. Angus had opened the blinds while he was in the shower. It was a rather dismal, cloudy day, surprisingly. Gregg swore he had checked the weather just an hour ago and it was supposed to be sunny and hot.

"So, when should we meet up with Bea and Mae?" Angus asked.

"Oh, uh, I guess whenever we're done with our breakfast we could drive over to Bea's. I'm sure Mae'll be there," Gregg thought, peeling his banana. Angus nodded.

Once they had finished their breakfast, they left the room and got into their car. The drive over to Bea's would only be a few minutes. Bea would be awake, unless… Gregg checked the time. It was about ten. Bea would be awake. Gregg, thought to shoot her a text regardless.

 _"hey were coming over soon jsyk"_

Gregg turned the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, beginning the drive over to Bea's.

Gregg couldn't shake the horrible feeling he had that he was worse than Angus, than Mae, than everyone. He really didn't want to feel like that for the rest of the time he was in town, or even the rest of the day. But, he also didn't want to bother his boyfriend or his friends.

"Uh, so, you don't think I'm annoying or anything like that, do you?" Gregg wondered, just about kicking himself for putting his problems on Angus.

Angus looked over at Gregg, almost surprised, before sighing. Gregg was always so critical on himself and Angus hated to see him like this. It also explained why he was so… off earlier. "Bug, I've told you before, and I'll tell you again: you're not annoying. If I thought you were annoying I wouldn't have stuck around this long. And Mae and Bea don't think you're annoying either, alright? We don't all secretly hate you. Don't think like that, okay? I love you, don't forget that."

Gregg smiled before bursting into laughter. "When did you get so damn smart?"

Gregg parked outside of Bea's apartment. He pulled out his phone and checked to see whether Bea had replied while he was driving or not. And, as it happened, she had. He stepped out of the car and began to read it aloud to Angus.

 _"i have no fucking clue where mae is"_

His eyes widened as he read, quickly getting nervous. He looked over to Angus to see what he thought, and by looking at his face, he had reacted the same. Gregg began to swiftly type a response.

 _"what do you mean? were outside your apartment"_

Gregg slowly walked over to the other side of the car, keeping his eyes fixed on his phone. Angus leaned over to look as Gregg stood next to him. Bea began to send a response back.

 _"come to maes house. Her moms totally freaked out and she thinks she got hurt like she did that one time in the woods. Im gonna look for her can you talk to her mom and just keep her calm and try to figure out where mae might have gone?"_

Gregg looked over to his boyfriend, completely shocked and anxious. Angus tried his best to hide any sort of nervousness he was feeling, and did a pretty good job at it. Gregg turned and quickly sped back over to the driver's side, running his hand through his hair as he did. Both sat down in the car and Gree hurriedly got back onto the road. Mae's house wasn't far, but every second lost could mean another second more Mae could be lost or hurt or… Gregg pushed the gas petal down a generous amount and sped down the old, hilly street. Angus tried to grab onto something to keep himself from flying out of his seat, eventually settling for the handle above the door. Gregg cursed as he hit his head on the top of the car, having no seatbelt on. Gregg just couldn't let Mae get hurt.


	6. You Insane Asshole

Mae's head fucking hurt. That was the only thing she knew. She felt a horrible pain in her throbbing head. It must've been the beer she had drank last night. Before she got back home and couldn't sleep and… Mae opened her eyes. She was in the woods, exactly where she last remembered being— by the mine. She found her phone nearby her and picked it up as she slowly rose to her feet. The phone had died while she was out, and now it was about midday. Mae looked around for the horned guy, but failed to find anything. So, she started to head back to town.

Mae noticed the signs of wildlife as she made her way back to her house. She noticed the birds in the trees and the sounds of animals in the bushes, and even managed to spot some deer off in the distance. She'd become a bit warier of animals after her animal-centric nightmares a while back, though, and after the deer turned and stared at her for a solid minute, she was thoroughly freaked out. Mae wished her phone still had battery.

The woods soon gave way to civilization, and it didn't take long for Mae to reach her house, from which she had left from. She opened the door, which, surprisingly, was open, and stepped in. Angus, Gregg, and her mom stood in the kitchen, conversing. Mae tried to get their attention. "Hey?"

All three turned to look at Mae, and their eyes widened. Candy and Gregg ran up to Mae and hugged her.

"Oh my god, Mae, we all thought you died!" said Gregg.

"What? But I—"

"Mae, I thought you got hurt like that one time when you, like, went into a coma! Don't do that again!"

"Mae, what did you do? Where did you go?" Candy asked.

"I, uh… can I talk to Gregg and Angus privately a second?" Mae asked. Gregg looked confused.

"Sure, but tell me where you went," Mae's mom reiterated, almost annoyed.

"Yeah, one minute, this is important," Mae said, ushering the two boys into the living room.

"Okay, what is it, Mae? Gregg wondered, half whispering into the semi-huddled group.

"Last night, I couldn't sleep, and I saw someone outside my window, and they ran off once I noticed them. So I went outside and followed them, and they went really far into the woods and made it to the mine, and once we got to the mine the guy hid and then hit me over the head with a bat and I think that it was one of the cultists," Mae hurriedly explained, having taken deep breaths in between sentences.

Gregg unhappily sighed. "Mae, it wasn't a cultist. You probably chased some teenager into the woods and they got scared and tried to defend themselves."

"But—" Mae stopped herself, "They had horns!" Mae was barely whispering anymore.

"Okay? I know plenty of horned people."

"No, it was one of the cultists! It was that weird goat guy with the ritual tattoos and face paint or whatever!" Mae spoke as loud as she could without being heard by her mom.

Gregg looked to Angus. "What 'weird goat guy?'" Right, they were unconscious for that.

"The guy in the mine! You didn't see him cause you had, like, a concussion or whatever, but he was there! He made me kill that one taco guy! He tried to make me kill all of you guys!" Mae leaned over to see if her mom had heard any of what she had just said. From the look she received, she guessed not.

Gregg looked worried. "Mae, unless you have pictures or something, there's really no way I'm going to believe you. Besides, you killed all of the cultists. They all died down there, Mae. Okay? Stop trying to make problems where there aren't any. The cult is gone. I don't know why you want the cult back so much, but—"

"I don't _want_ it back! I'm worried that they _are_ coming back!"

" _But_ , you really just need to let it go. And, I really don't mean to be mean or anything, but I think you should see a psychologist or something, Mae. This cult obsession and the cult joining and killing and everything is something to worry about, okay? I'm actually, genuinely worried about you. Please just go see Dr. Hank or whatever about this."

Another person thought Mae was crazy. She wasn't taken seriously and wasn't seen as a like-minded individual, but rather as a patient who needed to be treated. Mae couldn't deal with this shit anymore.

Mae's annoyed expression had quickly turned to a surprised one, and then into one of rage. "I am not insane. I'm not fucking insane! Don't you _dare_ fucking say that! I _know_ what I saw and I _know_ what I felt! Don't tell me what I saw or what happened or what I am, you asshole!" Mae's mom peeked into the room, trying not be seen. She stayed out of it.

Gregg looked hurt, and almost simply walked away, but then instead got annoyed and began to yell back. " _I'm_ an asshole? _I'm_ an asshole?!" Angus put his hand on Gregg's shoulder, trying to get him to stop. Gregg didn't pay attention. "You fucking _killed_ someone, you psycho! You could've killed us! Our goddamn lives were in your hands, and you were seconds away from _literally killing us!_ You joined a cult based around _murder_ , for God's sake! You made a conscious decision when you saw the cult again, with Bea, and your decision was to break up with her and join the cult! _You_ made that decision, and you have no one— _no one_ else to blame, you asshole!"

"The only reason I joined the cult was because I was in a bad state of mind! I thought they could help! Help the town, help Bea, help me! It's not my fault!"

"Oh, bullshit. You couldn't have believed what the cult said and _not_ be insane! You joined the cult because, just like the cultists who are now rotting beneath us, you are a homicidal, insane maniac! You need serious help, Mae! Don't try to brush it off with 'I was in a bad state of mind!' You need to get help, or else one day, you'll end up like those decomposing killers!"

Killer. Mae had been and still was a killer. She had been called that countless times. And she was insane, wasn't she? The people closest to her seemed to think so, so maybe she was. Who even fucking knew at this point?

Gregg exhaled. "Don't go back into the woods chasing some rando so that you can prove to me you saw this goat guy. You're gonna end up hurting yourself again like that one time." Gregg turned and began to walk towards the door. He shouted back to Mae, "And go see Dr. Hank!" Gregg walked outside.

Mae turned away from the door and looked at Angus. "Gregg's right about this, Mae. If you back into the woods you might end up hurting yourself again. Gregg'll have a heart attack if he learned that you went back into the woods chasing that guy. And I also think you should go see Dr. Hank. I'm not saying you're insane, but you could definitely be in a better state of mind. Okay? For both of us, please go get some help." Mae sighed and slowly and subtly nodded. Angus gave a thin, half-forced smile and followed Gregg outside.

"Okay, I didn't really catch what you guys were arguing about, but I'm not really gonna press you about it. Instead, I'm going to ask again, where did you go?" Candy asked, walking into Mae's view with her arms crossed.

"I went into the woods because I thought I saw, like, a robber or something by my window, and I ended up getting a little lost. I'm fine though, I swear," Mae lied.

"I called you and texted you all this morning!" Candy explained.

"My phone died."

"Okay, so disregarding the phone, you ran off into the woods chasing some guy? Mae, are you serious? Don't you dare do anything like that again! You easily could've been hurt!" Candy thought for a second. "And, you can't leave the house to go hang out with you friends for a week."

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore— you can't ground me."

"I know you're not a kid anymore, but you still live under my roof and under my rules, so you won't be leaving this house to hang out with your friends!"

"Mom, Gregg and Angus are only gonna be here for a few more days! I won't be able to see them for, like, forever once they leave!"

"I don't care, Mae. I can't tolerate this sort of behavior. It's reckless and dangerous and… Well, regardless, it's bad, and as punishment, you won't be leaving this house. No climbing out through the window or sneaking out, cause I'll know. Now, go to your room!"

"Come on, Mom, you—"

"No! No more talking about this. You're staying home so you can learn not to go run out into the woods chasing potentially armed criminals! Now go to your room!"

"Again, Mom, I'm not a kid anymore."

"I don't care! Go to your room! Now!"

Mae walked up to her room, not wanting to make her mom any more mad than she had to be. She couldn't believe she would have toactuallystay home. Not only was she an adult, but her friends were visiting, also. God, everything had gone to shit in a matter of a few minutes. Mae sat down on her bed and opened her laptop. She began to talk to Bea, who was, if Gregg was a sign of anything, probably really nervous about her.

 _"hey im not dead btw"_

Mae mulled over her and Gregg's argument in her mind. Insane. If she had a nickel for every time she had been described as insane… Her computer pinged as Bea responded.

 _"oh thank fucking god. I was sure you died"_

 _"nope, still_ _alive"_

 _"damn. So i have to put up with you still?"_

 _"hardy har"_

 _"anyway where'd you go for so long?"_

 _"I chased one of the cultists into the woods and they knocked me out once we got to the mine"_

 _"are you serious? Mae you killed the cult and theyre gone"_

 _"no theyre not I swear. i saw one of the cultists"_

 _"look gregg just texted me about the argument you two just had so im not even gonna touch that"_

 _"no but really they're back!"_

 _"bye mae"_

 _"no but hear me out about the cult"_

 _"nope. Bye"_

Mae groaned and quickly shut her computer. No one believed her. She'd have to prove that she saw the goat guy. Pictures. Video. That would prove that this guy was real. Gregg told her specifically not to, but what did that ass know? Mae would have to go find the guy again tonight. And for that, her phone would need to be charged, so she plugged it into her cord that was loosely coiled up on the floor. Now to keep herself occupied until nightfall.


	7. Sneaking Out

Mae woke up to the sound of her phone receiving a text. She sat up and grabbed it. Gregg had sent her a text a few hours ago, and then a second one just now. Mae checked the time. It was a bit before nine, meaning it was almost time to leave and chase the guy. Thanks, Gregg.

 _"hey mae sorry about arguing earlier. i didnt mean to get so loud and angry im just worried about you cuz it doesnt seem like your doing well"_

 _"please dont just ignore me mae. i apologized and explained myself what else do you want?"_

So Gregg was sorry, huh? It didn't really seem like it. It felt hollow and fake. But maybe that was just her being "insane" or a "homicidal maniac". Mae left him on read.

Mae didn't want to be a jerk or anything, but she was genuinely pissed. It felt like none of her friends really cared about her. Everyone thought she was crazy and wrong all of the time. She was never believed or considered. It was always that what she'd said was always wrong or impossible or stupid or whatever. Now, she'd finally be able to prove herself right. Mae made her way into the bathroom and carefully snuck out out of the window in there. The window in her room didn't open and was too high up, anyway.

Mae's feet hit the ground and, after making sure she couldn't be seen from inside the house, began to look around for the figure. He was halfway obfuscated by a tree in the distance. Once he had been spotted by Mae, he began to walk away. Mae began to chase after the guy, being sure to not trip on anything.

The figure appeared to be simply walking away, yet Mae couldn't seem to catch up no matter how fast she went. Mae tried to take a few pictures, but they were too dark and blurry to decipher anything from them. She'd have to wait for the guy to stop like he did at the mine. Hopefully without the whole bashing her in the head thing, though.

Seeing as how the figure always seemed a fixed distance away from Mae no matter her speed, she decided to slow down and just walk. She'd get there regardless. It was, however, even more humid out this night. Certainly it would rain soon, which was further shown by the many puffy clouds above Mae that hid the moon, only allowing a slight, blurred light to show the way. Once they entered the woods it was practically pitch black. If Mae hadn't had her flashlight she wouldn't have been able to see a thing.

Mae really liked being out here in the woods, and with it being cold and dark and spooky it felt like it was already Halloween. It was a shame that this guy she was following was kind of making it too real. Once again cult shit was happening and she was in the woods and her friends didn't believe her. Everything was the same again.

Then, the figure stopped, again at the mine. This damned mine. Why did it matter so much? Why did it always seem to be the place for this shit to happen around? She wished she could just burn it to the ground, which she couldn't really do since it was _in_ the ground, but still.

The figure stood in the clearing, facing Mae, yet not approaching or speaking or pulling out an axe with which to kill her. So, Mae took her opportunity and shot some pictures. They came out clear, fortunately. However, in the flash of her phone she could just barely see the figure's face. And she recognized it. The terrible scaring and blackness covering it. This had to be the goat guy from the mine. The one that tried to tell her to kill and seemed to lead all of the cultists. He was still alive.

Mae stared down at the phone in her hands and the picture displayed on it. It was him. Mae quickly looked up to see the goat. He was walking away, towards the mine. Mae whipped her phone up again to take a video, hoping to get as much proof as possible. This would have to convince her friends. She had to keep this guy from ruining everything. Mae would have to save her friends again. Or at least try.

The figure continued to walk towards the mine, making his way over to the now collapsed entrance. He refused to be affected by this, however, as he continued to walk until he had completely gone through the rubble blocking the entrance. He had walked through a wall.

Mae, stunned, slowly moved her finger to end the video. She stared at the entrance and thought. He couldn't have, could he? Mae slowly walked towards the rubble, and indeed, the entrance was completely covered with rubble. He'd walked through a wall. He could walk through walls. The cultists were right about what they had said.

Mae watched the video, and yet again, she was with her own eyes as the goat simply went through the rubble as if nothing was there. She was dumbfounded before suddenly feeling a rush of energy and concentration as adrenaline flooded her system. This guy was out to get her and her friends. She had to do something. She began to sprint through the woods, heading towards her house. She had to tell everyone as soon as possible.

She had snuck back into the house the same way she left it, although arguably more difficult this time. She rushed to her room and began to hurriedly text her friends the pictures and the video. She was simply too worried to wait until the next day. She had to tell everyone immediately.

The first to respond was Gregg.

 _"what is this"_

 _"this is what i was talking about! the guy in the woods! the reason you thought i died!"_

 _"oh"_

 _"what?! is this not like really important?!?!? its the goat cultist guy and hes still alive!"_

 _"oh thats what that is. jesus ok. alright and not saying this isnt a big deal but we should talk about this tomorrow ok"_

 _"but he could be trying to kill us right now greggory!"_

 _"ok ok i know but me and angus are tired"_

 _"its like nine fifteen"_

 _"shut up and let me enjoy time with my bf. goodnight mae see you tomorrow"_

Mae grumbled and put down her phone. Bea hadn't answered yet so chances were she wasn't gonna answer at all. Mae lied down on her bed. This was happening again, huh? Well, third time's the charm as they say. Mae closed her eyes, forgetting that she still had her shoes on, and fell asleep, somehow still terribly tired despite her nap earlier. Sleep had overtaken her for the night despite her anxiety. She would see them tomorrow.


	8. A Good Boyfriend

Gregg woke to a text from Mae. The loud _ding_ from his phone caused him to groan and outstretch an arm to grab his phone.

 _"hey come to beas i really need to talk to everyone"_

Gregg sighed and slowly rose. Phone in hand, he stretched and yawned. Apparently it was already eleven. It was gonna be hell going back to work. Gregg didn't even want to _think_ about that.

Gregg looked back at the still sleeping bear laid down on the bed. He looked so cute sleeping. Usually Angus was an early bird, but not having any responsibilities allowed him to sleep in even longer than Gregg typically did.

Gregg carefully nudged his sleeping boyfriend, which led Angus simply to mumble "...What?"

Gently, Gregg smiled. "We gotta get up, Cap'n— Mae's getting really antsy to talk to us."

"She can talk to us later." Angus pulled his head under the covers.

"No, she's, like, really set on this. She swears she saw some cult guy in the woods and she wants to talk to everyone about it, and I don't think she's gonna let up anytime soon."

Angus sighed and looked at the clock by the bed. He groaned and slowly slid out of bed. "Could'cha get me some coffee, babe?"

Gregg snickered. "Alright, I'll be back in a few. Put some clothes on."

Gregg shuffled over to the where the hotel had its breakfast laid out. Gregg poured some coffee into one of the cups provided and snatched a couple muffins. It was kind of surprising that the breakfast was still out, considering that it was practically midday, but he wasn't complaining. Free food was good, always. His multiple occurrences of food poisoning disagreed with that, but who cared about that when you were allowed to take infinite pancakes for free?

Gregg knocked on the hotel room's door, prompting Angus to open it. "Here ya go," Gregg said, handing Angus his coffee and one of the muffins.

"Thanks, Bug," Angus grinned. God, Gregg really didn't deserve him. He was just the best person ever.

Gregg followed Angus back into hotel room and sat down on the bed. He bit into the muffin.

"Okay, so can you explain to me what Mae wants again?" Angus asked.

"She took some pictures of the mystery cult guy she's been seeing, and she— Wait, that means she went back into the fucking woods again!" Gregg angrily sighed, "I told her not to go back into the woods and she went back into the woods."

Gregg took another bite of the muffin, and with his mouth full, exclaimed, "I'm gonna kill her when I see her."

"Okay, kill her if you want; why was so important that she had to wake us up for?"

"She's convinced she saw a cult guy in the woods and she took some pictures and she wants to convince us that the cult is still out there or something."

"Legend has it that the cult is out there to this very day."

Gregg chuckled. "Yeah, it doesn't really seem too likely." Gregg looked down at his phone next to him, lit up with another text from Mae. Gregg exhaled. "I'm really worried about her, Angus."

"Yeah… I know."

"It's just… she can't really tell the difference between what's real and what's not anymore. She'ssoconvinced that the cult is still out there and still trying to get her. I didn't mean to imply that she's insane, but I'm just so worried about her. She's my friend, you know that, Angus, and she's just not dealing with her problems and stress or whatever well. She's based her _whole life_ around this cult in less than, like, a couple weeks. And it doesn't help that she's not even consistent with it. First she was against it, then she was supporting it, now she's against it again, I think. She really needs to, without being rude, see a psychologist. Even Dr. Hank would be better than nothing, because what she's doing is, like, bottling everything up until she has some sort of panic attack or outburst or something, and it's not good for her or anyone close to her— physically and metaphorically."

Gregg faintly frowned and finished his muffin. The bottom was a tad burnt. "I'm just so worried about her. I'm nervous that she might do something… stupid. She's just unstable and I don't really know how to help her and I don't want her to do something she can't undo. She's my friends but I just can't do enough to help her and she's slipping from me and I don't know if she'll even be around this time next year. I just wanna help her, Angus." Gregg sniffed.

Angus rested his hand on Gregg's shoulder and pulled him into a hug. "It'll be fine, Bug, don't worry about it so much. We can figure it out, okay?"

Gregg rubbed his eyes, "Yeah," Gregg gave a small smile, "thanks, hun. You're too good at this sort of thing."

Angus smirked, "It's just my special talent."

Gregg, leaning into his boyfriend, picked up his phone and read the text Mae had sent him.

 _"are you still coming"_

Gregg tapped a reply.

 _"yup"_


	9. Pictures

The door to Bea's apartment slowly swung open as Gregg stepped through. Despite the warm, humid weather, he was still dressed in leather and denim, which Mae thought would be extremely uncomfortable, but she knew how Gregg was about that punk look. The two shut the door behind them and sat near the two girls. Everyone was suffocated by an awkward silence before Gregg finally spoke up.

"So, what'd you wanna talk about so bad?"

"The pictures of the guy, remember?" Mae huffed. She pulled out her phone and held it up, showing off the picture of the figure.

"Mhm, and you're sure that this is a cultist and not, say, just a regular guy?"

"What's that on his face?" Bea asked.

"Yes, Gregg! See, look at…" Mae scrolled through her photos, finally stopping at the video, "this!"

Gregg thought, "He… went into the mine? Okay, so what's so special about—"

"He walked through the rubble! He just… phased through it! Look!" Mae exclaimed, playing the video again.

"How'd he do that?" Bea wondered. She was, despite her skepticism, pretty interested in what Mae was showing and telling her.

"I don't really know, but that doesn't matter. Remember what the one cult guy when we first met them?"

"He could walk through walls…" Gregg said slowly, "Huh, you've… really put a lot of effort into this story."

"I'm not lying! I saw all this and I even got pictures! Just like you wanted!" Mae shouted.

Gregg groaned, "Mae, I didn't want you to actually get pictures."

"You said you wouldn't believe me unless had pictures, and now I have some! What else do you want?"

Gregg sighed. "Mae, I want you to stop with this. Stop with all of this cult shit, cause none of it is real, and it's just putting you on edge and whatever. Please stop."

"Look, I want to stop with this 'cult shit', too! But, I can't yet because there's at least one cultist still out there who also happens to be hanging around my house every night!"

"Really now? So this guy should be standing outside the apartment building? If I look out the window I should see him?"

"Gregg…"

"No, he's gotta be here, right? Cause he's following you everywhere?"

"Gregg."

Gregg stood up and held his arms and head up. Dramatically, he pleaded, "Oh great goat god, please show us a sign if this cultist goat is real."

The lights flickered.

Gregg paused and, dumbfounded, began to stutter, "Wait, was… was that one of you?" He turned around, back to the group. None had moved, except for Mae, who was stood up next to Gregg, ready to punch him straight in the face.

"You haven't, like, missed an electric bill or something, Bea, have you?" Gregg asked, desperate for an explanation.

Bea stated, "No, we've paid our electric bill. I think that that was actually—"

"Angus? What could've done that?"

"I don't know, maybe the electricity surged or something." Angus thought.

Gregg snapped. "That's what it was. Electric surge. That wasn't any sort of mysterious deus ex machina or whatever, just a—"

"Don't you dare blow it off like that! That was clearly some sort of sign that I'm right! It couldn't have been a coincidence, Greggory!"

"Oooh, you just know that wasn't a coincidence, huh? Just like you—"

"Shut up— both of you!" Bea shouted, causing Gregg to quickly stop mid-sentence and for both to turn their attention to Bea, stood right in between the two. "Alright, let's just say that the cult is still around in some fashion; then what?"

Mae thought. "We'd try to stop anyone still alive, I guess."

"Okay… how? Clearly, if your video is real—"

"Which it is!"

"—Then this guy has some magical powers or something. We can't take that on, especially since we have no weapons.'

"I've got a bat."

Bea sighed, "I know, Mae, I know you have a bat. That's not enough." Bea switched her attention over to Gregg, "And you also have to think about whether this guy isn't a cultist. What if he's just a homeless guy or something like that?"

"But he's not!"

"But Mae, what if he is? Then what? If you assault a homeless guy I'm not helping you in any way."

"Come on, you guys gotta believe me! I was right last time about the cult!"

"You also joined it, Mae, so I wouldn't be so confident," Gregg replied.

"How much more are—"

"Shut up! You two need to separated. You're acting like children," Bea interrupted.

Gregg, almost shamefully, sat down next to his boyfriend. Mae sat down as well.

"Guys, can you at least consider this? What if I'm right and we're not prepared?" said Mae.

"What exactly would preparing mean, though? Getting a gun and chasing this guy through the woods?" Bea asked.

"I don't know, maybe we could just get some sort or weapon and then just, hole up at Germ's or—" Mae paused. "Germ. He's, like, super sick, right?"

"I mean, last time I checked he was." Bea explained.

"Then we gotta go over there! He's not gonna be able to protect himself!"

"Give Germ some credit. He's probably more fit than any of us," Gregg said.

"But he's sick! Besides, he's super close to the mine and pretty much alone," Mae retorted.

"He'll be fine because there's no one after him."

"The cult guy will. He was down there in the mine with you guys last time."

"Exactly. Since they're all dead and not alive, it's fine."

"Gregg, you can't just—"

"Fucking shut up!" Bea yelled. "Okay," she sighed, "let's just go to Germ's so that at the very least we can calm Mae down, cause I can't listen to you two fucking argue anymore."

"Yes, good idea. Let's please not do that anymore," Angus said.

Angus headed for the door, causing Gregg to follow behind. Bea, after grabbing her keys, grabbed Mae's hand and led her to the door.

"Bea," Mae thought, "do you believe me?"

"...Not entirely. You had some good proof, but you're also definitely wrong."

"But, Bea—"

Bea shushed her girlfriend. "Hey, I believed you this much, don't push it." She locked the apartment door behind her.

Mae chuckled. "Thanks, I guess."

"Good answer," Bea smiled before leading Mae to the elevator, where the two boys stood waiting, having waited for Bea and Mae to flirt.

"Can I push the button?" Gregg asked, feverishly.

Angus laughed. "Go right ahead."

Gregg pushed the ground floor button and the doors to the elevator shut.

"...So, what was Germ like last time you saw him?" Mae wondered.

"Well, yesterday, I went by his house to see if he was okay, and from what I was told, he was pretty much bedridden." The elevator door opened and the four began to walk out of the elevator and building. "Whatever happened to him happened hard."

"I thought it was just that he was drunk or hungover or whatever?" Gregg questioned.

"Maybe he was, but he's also apparently been sleep deprived, unable to eat, and I think he has a concussion," Bea explained.

The four stepped out of the building. "Are we walking over there?" Mae asked.

"Nah, I don't really feel like walking that far right now." Bea said before unlocking her car and getting in.

Mae opened the door for the passenger seat and sat down. Behind her, Gregg and Angus got in the back. The drive following was short, but still allowed all the passengers to enjoy some peace and quiet after the arguing. Bea had turned the radio on, keeping the volume low, however. Barely two songs had finished by the time they had arrived.

Bea parked outside of Germ's house and turned her key, stopping the engine. Everyone took a collective, metaphorical breath before opening their door and stepping out. Bea led the group up to the front door and knocked on the door. She waited for a moment before Germ's dad answered her. The lock of the door unlocked with several clicks and then the door swung open.

"Hello," Germ's dad said, almost confused.

"Hello, Mr. Warton. Could we talk to Germ really quickly?" Bea asked with as much politeness as she could muster.

"He's still pretty dang sick, kid. I think it'd be best if we left 'im alone for a while."

Mae stepped forth. "It's important we talk to him."

"Why do y— Oh. Is this about…?" Mr. Warton trailed off. Mae nodded.

"Oh, well, I guess, sure. Come on in," he invited, stepping out of the way.

The four walked in. The house smelled of the sort of lemon aroma that cleaning products give off. In the chair that previously held Grandma Creepo sat taped closed cardboard boxes of varying sizes and colors. Mae walked forward and heard the door close behind her.

"He's in his room, in case y'all couldn't tell," Germ's dad explained, locking the door. Multiple different locks were on the door. It seemed like they were put up hurriedly, as the screws that held the chain lock in place were screwed in at different angles and uneven with the floor, causing the lock to be crooked. Mr. Warton quickly slid the last lock closed and meandered towards the living room.

Mae had almost forgotten that Germ's dad was part of the cult as well. She could trust him and talk to him about the cult. He had gone through the same thing she had. He was tricked, too.

Bea grabbed Mae's hand, causing Mae to flinch, having not been paying attention to the world around her. She looked at the girl next to her, who then began to lead her down the hall to Germ's room. Mae smiled weakly.

Bea tapped her knuckles against the door, getting a quiet groan in response. Bea turned to Mae.

"Does that mean I can come in?" she wondered. Mae shrugged.

Bea rapped against the door again, recieving a louder, more strained groan. Bea sighed and subtly shook her head.

"I guess it does," Bea muttered, opening the door.

The room, smelling even more of cleaning products, contained Germ, laid haphazardly across his bed. His hat had fallen on the floor, next to an empty bowl sat by his bed. A full glass of ice water sat on a bedside table. Germ lifted his head up off his pillow, noticed the four intruders and mumbled, "What're you doing here?"

Angus gently shut the bedroom door behind him as Mae began to speak. "It's about the cult." Gregg, arms crossed, rolled his eyes.

"What else is there about the cult? You got rid of 'em, remember?" Germ moaned.

Mae shook her head. "There's still a guy left and he definitely wants to kill all of us." She gestured to everyone in the room.

"I just wanna say that we have, like, no proof of that," Gregg added.

Angus whispered to Gregg, "Just let her do this. When she realizes there's nobody after her she'll drop it."

Gregg and Angus began to argue whispering. Mae turned back to Germ and held up her phone, showing off the picture she'd taken. "See? This guy's been hanging around my house and he hit me over the head and knocked me unconscious."

Germ exhaled sharply as he shifted his position. "Join the club."

"This is serious, Germ. Especially since you're so close to the mine."

"I doubt that I'll be killed, Mae. Besides," Germ unzipped a pocket on his jacket and pulled out a pocket knife. "I got this."

Dim light came through the closed blinds and bounced off the blade into Mae's eyes. Germ showed the knife off for a few more moments before slowly pushing the sharp metal back into its place and back into his pocket. He zipped it closed as Mae began to speak again.

"But this guy is more than just that." Mae swiped to the video she'd taken and played it. "He's able to go through walls and stuff. He's like, supernatural or something."

"Alright, you beat god before, what do you need me for?" Germ cleared his throat. "Could you hand me that water?"

Mae grabbed the glass and handed it to the bird. He propped himself up with his arm and quickly chugged half of it, before placing it near the edge of the table. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Look, Germ, I'm just tryna keep everyone alive. We'll leave you alone, just let us stay in the house or whatever and keep you alive."

"You never mentioned that, Mae," Bea said. Mae held up her hand and continued to wait for Germ's response as he thought.

Germ sighed. "Sure, fine. Stay in my house. But tell my parents to stay in a hotel or something for the night."

"Why?" Mae wondered.

"Cause if you are right, which I doubt, then I don't want 'em killed by this guy or anything like that."

Mae flinched. God, he was seriously suggesting not only stabbing someone to death but also his parents dying. Well, Bea's dad had died in the mine, as well as, hopefully, all of the other cultists, so it wasn't too far-fetched to think someone could die. But she wasn't really prepared for that idea. She'd seriously not thought about someone dying. Hopefully no one would. Not if she or her bat had anything to— She'd forgotten her bat. Shit. That could be a problem.

Mae snapped back to reality. "Uh, sure. I can tell them that."

"Thanks," Germ responded. Angus opened the door as the group began to head for it.

Bea leaned over and whispered to Mae, "You never mentioned staying here all night, Mae."

"Look just do this tonight and if we all live then we hopefully don't have to do it again."

Bea sighed. "You know, I've given you a lot today. I'm trusting you and letting you waste my day, so you better not do this all again, ever."

"Alright." Mae glanced at Gregg for a second. "You don't think Gregg's actually, like, mad about this, do you?"

"...I think he's annoyed and worried, but no, I don't think he's mad at you. But you better not do this stuff tomorrow if you don't want him annoyed still."

"Yeah," Mae nodded.

The explanation as to why Germ's parents should leave was short. It wasn't hard to convince Germ's dad that they should leave. Mae said that they would finally stop the cult for good and Mr. Warton dutifully pointed to his room, explained there was a rifle in the closet, said not to be too loud or attract attention, and wished them the best of luck. Then, Mr. Warton had a quick private chat with Germ's mom, and after they packed a small bag with clothes and such, they were off. As Germ's dad was walking out the door, he tossed them the key, which Angus caught.

"Lock the door behind me and stay safe now." Mr. Warton continued out the door and then quickly shouted back through the small gap in the doorway, "We'll back 'round noon, alright?"

"Alright." Bea replied. "Thank you and have a good night, Mr. Warton."

"You, too." Mr. Warton shut the door and walked away. Angus locked the several mechanisms on the door. Now they would see what happened.


	10. UNO

"Boom! Get fucked," Gregg triumphantly taunted, slamming down a draw four card.

"What? You asshole!" Mae shouted, grabbing four cards from the stack of UNO cards. She placed a green three on the blue green on top of the messy, upturned stack. "Your turn, Bea."

Bea sat down a skip card and smirked at the bear at her side.

"What was that for?" Angus asked.

"You do have, like, only two cards, so…" Bea trailed off.

Gregg looked through his cards and decided on a green six before being stopped by Mae, who held a finger over her mouth.

"Wh—"

"Listen!" Mae shushed.

The four sat silent as they heard a faint crash. Mae looked over to Gregg, who handed her a knife from his pocket. She slowly rose and carefully scanned the area. As she did, Germ's door opened as he yawned.

Suddenly, he noticed the four and stopped. "What are— oh, yeah. You guys are staying here," Germ said, rubbing his eyes as he slowly shuffled down the hall.

"Shh, there's something going on. We heard a crash," Mae explained.

"Oh, that was me. I slid off my bed." Germ stated, before walking over to the kitchen, "Also, where'd you find UNO? I didn't know we had that."

"Uh… we found it in one of those boxes on the chair," Mae said, slowly sitting back down in the circle, handing the knife back to Gregg.

"Cool."

"Alright, so who's turn was it?"

"Uh, I just went, so it's your turn," Gregg responded.

Mae nodded and began to go through her cards as Germ walked out of the kitchen with a glass of sweet tea and some pills in his cupped hand. He sat down in between Angus and Bea, forcing the two to scoot over. Mae placed a reverse card on the pile while Germ tossed the pills into his mouth and took a sip of his drink.

"So… how are you doing, Germ?" Bea asked, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable silence of the room. The small talk had kind of died around ten minutes into playing, and Bea wished it hadn't.

"I feel like shit. Everything sucks and I'm only gonna be able to get a couple more days off of work," Germ replied.

"Oh, where do you work?" Gregg, in good spirit, questioned.

"I got your old job at the Snack Falcon."

"Whaaat? No way!" Gregg smiled, "So how's it treatin' you?"

"Boring. But, it worked well a sleeping time, I learned."

"Yeah, it's not exactly the most interesting job. That's why I was pretty much never there."

"My job wasn't interesting, either, yet I actually worked, Bug," Angus said softly.

Gregg giggled, "But it worked out anyway, didn't it?" He leaned into his boyfriend.

Angus smiled, "Yes it did." He set down a card.

"So you guys doin' well in… Bright Harbor?" Germ forced himself to ask, despite wanting to just stay silent.

"Yeah, it's great over there. I can't believe how many people there are and how much stuff there is to do and how much bigger it is and everything," Gregg excitedly said.

"That's good." Germ wished that he could leave Possum Springs. He clearly didn't have too much of a future here. He'd already gotten a boring job he didn't want, and he wasn't even twenty yet. Not like there were too many alternatives, really.

"It'd be nice to leave town someday," Germ stated offhandedly.

"You've got the bug too, huh?" Gregg chuckled.

"Ah, come on, don't go. I'll be left alone with Bea," Mae teased. She didn't want to be left behind in Possum Springs.

"Har har, very funny," Bea said, monotonically. She reached over and lightly pushed her girlfriend's shoulder.

Germ leaned his head into his hand as his head began to pound again. Why did he have to be the only one out of the four that got a concussion? Angus, Gregg, and Bea all got knocked over the head, but for some reason, he was the only one really affected. Just his luck. Germ sighed and tried to relax, gently shutting his eyes.

"Hey guys, guess what?" Gregg said, pausing, "Uno." He smirked smugly.

"Goddamnit!" Mae forcefully put her cards down. "How have you won two games already?"

"Maybe it's cause I'm good at this game."

"Yeah, I doubt it, assface."

Gregg laughed. "So you wanna play again, then?"

"No, I'm tired of UNO."

"Yeah, me too." Bea admitted, placing her cards down. "Oh, and since you like winning so much, you also win the chance to clean uo all of the cards."

Gregg groaned as Angus handed him his cards. "Fine."

Bea stood up and stretched, noticing Germ. "You alright there?"

"Germ briefly opened his eyes to see Bea looking at him. He closed them again and responded, "Yeah, I'm good."

"You sure? We can, like, leave you alone or something if you want."

"No, I'm fine. Just dealing with a concussion."

"Oh dang, you've got a concussion?"

"Yeah, but it's good. I'm also unbearably tired and unable to really eat anything, but it's good."

"Damn, you alright?" Gregg wondered.

"Please just let me sit for a minute. My head fucking hurts."

"Alright, sorry," Gregg apologized, putting his hands up in submission.

Gregg walked over to the chair and sat the cards, wrapped up with a rubber band, on top of the boxes. He walked back over to his boyfriend, who was drinking a glass of water. He put his arms over his shoulder and leaned his head on him.

"Alright, I'm tired," Mae said, flopping over on the couch.

"What? It's only…" Bea checked her phone, "eight thirty."

"I'm not very good at making sure to do good sleep," Mae, muffled, muttered into the couch.

Bea smiled. "Alright, sure, go sleep, dweeb."

"Night, dweeb," Mae whispered as Bea joined Gregg and Angus' conversation. Germ sat on the floor, falling asleep. Bea, Angus, and Gregg would, hopefully, be able to keep themselves occupied until they were ready to sleep, wherever the hell that would even be. They, having gotten this far into the night without dying, expected a rather calm night. With Mae and Germ asleep and calmly curled up in the living room, Bea certainly thought it couldn't be any other way.


	11. I Only Crawl When I Hit the Ground

**A/N** **: By the way, this story is available on AO3 under the username 'Brickmaster_Guy', and I do recommend reading it over there if you wanna get my notes and stuff. Also, I am available on Tumblr under the username 'brickmaster-is-a-person'. One last thing, this chapter is (maybe) best read with the song 'I Only Lie When I Love You' by Royal Blood for the first half or so and 'Wish I Knew You' by The Revivalists for the second half, if you want. The first song is the reason for this chapter's name and both of these songs are what I was listening to when I wrote the respective half. It's explained more on AO3**

Gregg and Angus had ended up asleep sitting on the floor leaning on each other. Bea, however, with nowhere else comfortable to sleep, begrudgingly decided to stay in her car. She couldn't believe she'd let Mae take the _whole couch._ What an idiot she was.

It was colder than Bea expected outside. Luckily for her, she'd happened to snatch a folded blanket from on top of the box-covered chair inside. She uncomfortably laid down in the back of the car, barely managing to find a comfortable position. As she shifted around, she tried to use her arm as a pillow, which only made her situation a miniscule bit more comfortable. Next time, Mae could sleep in the car.

Inside the house, Mae slept soundly in the warm house in the old, soft couch. Despite her relaxed state, she was tense. Once again, she was having a dream with her favorite goat god. She shifted her position as in her head she had another one-sided conversation.

She stood there in an endless inky void, surrounded by shadows and darkness. And before her sat a powerful god painted black. He'd never shifted his position no matter how many times Mae had seen him. He was a static entity that still managed to inspire and incite violence and evil. His kill count was innumerable, and Mae had contributed to that. She couldn't feel worse, yet she still felt an urge to continue to contribute. It made her feel sick and wicked. If only she could purge herself of her terrible feelings and tendencies. She was a killer.

She heard a deep, quiet whisper emanate from the goat as she continued to stare. The noise got louder and louder, becoming unbearably noisy. Her body vibrated, resonating with the low noise of the god. No words being deciphered, instead just noise. Static. Nothing but noise. Mae's ears began to ring with the pain of hearing.

Her eyes shot open as the noise quickly faded into silence, which intruded. It felt unwelcome and unnatural, despite how abnormal the noise she had heard was. Then, she jolted, hearing frantic jiggling of a doorknob. She could recognize it, despite her half-awake state. Mae rubbed her eyes as she heard a lock being opened, giving forth a _click_ of acceptance to the key. She began to sit up as the front door swung open, letting the light of Bea's car's headlights spill forth into the house, somewhat illuminating the dark innards of the home.

Mae had begun to sit up as the lights of the house were switched on with several simultaneous _clicks._ Bea stood in the open doorway, keys in hand, as only two meters ahead of her stood Mae's figure. Horns, scars, and darkness all intact. Mae loudly, and with haste, stumbled out of the bind of her blanket, falling onto the floor. The _thump_ created by colliding with the ground combined with the lights and general chaos of the situation had caused the three boys to wake up, confused and dazed. The door, still sitting ajar, let a blast of cold air flood the room.

Mae assumed a fighting stance and got ready to pounce. Bea wielded the keys as if she were to be holding a small dagger. Angus and Gregg, amongst the confusion and mayhem, had adopted an adrenaline-fueled, anxious, and defensive position, huddling into each other, unsure of the current situation, but yet still sure of danger being present. Germ clutched his stomach with one arm as he reached into his pocket to grab his knife with the other, still leaning against the central chair of the room, his hat laying on the floor next to him. Time crawled to a stop as the goat hurried into kitchen, eyeing a recently washed knife sat in the sink. The long sharpened knife had been used by the unprofessional, but skilled, cook, Angus, earlier in the day to make a small dinner for the four guests. Now it laid comfortably in the fingers of the cultist who had just rudely intruded. He smirked with wicked intentions before swiftly dodging Bea, who jabbed the key forward with the goal of harm.

The two boyfriends had at this point started to realize the situation they had been put into. Standing erect now, Angus reached for his phone, sat comfortably in his pocket, intending to call 911, forgetting the lack of signal in the woods, far from even the small town of Possum Springs. Gregg was ready to completely attack and maul the guy if needed. He was prepared to, if this goat approached, leap onto him and do whatever to wound this guy. Germ had stood up and flipped the blade of his knife out as he defensively stood his ground. No one in the living room moved as the cultist grabbed his weapon and slid past the girl at the front door, still open.

Skillfully slipping into the living room, armed with serrated blade in hand, the goat lunged forth at the nightmare-eyed girl in front of him, who managed to just barely slide out of the way. Noticing his opportunity, Gregg pounced, sitting on the back of the figure. With strength, he repeatedly struck his back, dotting his attack with grunts. Suddenly the overhead light flickered into darkness, once again encasing the room in darkness, no longer even being lit by headlights. Now only the moon's light shone through the doorframe, giving the house reduced visibility and a creepy demeanor.

Dazed by the sudden darkness, Gregg loosened his grip and was easily thrown off by the goat. The knife jabbed backward at the fox, missing as Gregg tumbled out of the way. Without difficulty, the goat held back Mae and focused on the bear stood in the corner, hastily trying to get his phone to work. Gregg and Bea began to charge at the attacker, missing as he sprinted towards the bear. He, however, had been stopped by Germ, who jumped into his path. Instantly he was being lifted off of the ground by a hand sturdily placed on and around his neck, digging between his jaw and his throat. The bird gasped for air as he threw his limbs against the cultist in a desperate attempt to have the hand removed. The gasps in no time at all turned into horrible croaks as Germ's lungs attempted to expand, yet still not getting air in. His knife fell out of his hand, not having even been stuck into the attacker once.

The figure was stopped by a swift, sudden shove from the bear, who now tossed his phone onto the couch. Germ fell down into the wooden floor, his hand laid delicately on his neck as he took deep breaths, his lungs pleased with the introduction of oxygen. He rubbed his neck as he wheezed and coughed. Angus stood straight as he saw Mae look to Germ and Bea and Gregg ready to stab the goat with anything sharp they could get their hands on. Time stopped. Without warning the cultist thrust the knife forth, quickly landing in the flesh of the bear. From his abdomen spilt crimson blood, running down his stomach, pulled to the ground with speed. Angus wasn't even able to see what had doomed him, absent of glasses, as he, without expression, fell to the floor. Gregg shouted out in anguish as he jumped past the figure to the victim sat in scarlet.

The cultist pulled the knife back, entirely ready to attack again, but instead stopped. The cat now stood before him, face frozen with vengeful determination and hand gripping knife. Pushed through his flesh and upward into his lungs was the small pocket knife belonging to Germ. Mae scowled as she pushed it farther, until even the handle had touched his insides. Then, full of rage, she twisted the blade— hands and shoes coated with red. The figure stumbled, still very much alive and conscious, prior to the silvery metal of another blade entering the goat's flesh. Gregg propelled the weapon into the attacker's thigh, turning the room ruby.

Then, delivering the final blow, Mae grabbed the goat's horns— one in each hand. Keeping her firm grasp, she pulled his head down and lifted her knee up with as much force as she could muster. The two collided with a _crack_ as something in his jaw or chin broke. Then, unsatisfied and still full of adrenaline and anger, she lowered it and raised it again, this time causing a sickening _crunch_ to ring out as she let go of the goat, who then stumbled back and onto the ground. He fell on his back and fell unconscious, defeated.

Mae turned her attention to the boy on the floor behind her. Turning around, she saw Angus curled up on the ground with Gregg leaning over him, trying to help. Bea rushed to the kitchen, grabbing a towel, demanding for someone to call an ambulance. She returned to the blood-coated bear, putting the towel on the wound and telling Gregg to put pressure on it. Gregg nervously nodded and leaned onto the towel, making his boyfriend wince.

At the same time, Germ explained, "There's no service out here." His voice was raspy and trembled as if he had just finished crying.

"What do you mean 'there's no service out here'?! We're not _that_ far from town!" Bea shouted.

"I don't know," Germ swallowed the pain in his throat, "but it wouldn't even help much if we did. An ambulance is gonna take forever to get all the way out here. You might as well—"

"Let Angus die?"

"Don't even fucking say that!" Gregg yelled, his voice shaking.

"No, of course I'm not saying that, I'm just—" Germ said.

"Saying that we should let him die?" Bea interrupted.

"Don't say that! He's gonna be fine!" Gregg screamed.

Mae stood still, paralyzed with anxiety and fear. Her initiative had disappeared as she could no longer solve the pressing issue with violence. Not to mention the seeming hopelessness of the whole situation.

"What do we do then?" Germ asked before coughing, his voice still able to be coated with cynicism.

Bea thought for a moment, "We send Mae out to call for an ambulance as we take care of Angus."

Suddenly given a task, Mae began to move towards the front door, however she stopped short, noticing the goat's eyes open. She paused and then ran into the hall, opening the door to Germ's parents' room. She ignored Bea calling her name, and Mae looked frantically around the room before finally finding what she was looking for: the shotgun. She grabbed it, loaded it, and ran back out into the living room with it in her arms. Mae stood now above the cultist. She aimed the gun at his head, and pulled the trigger, letting a spread of metal fill his head. Instantly, the last thread of live that he had faded into nothing. Behind Mae, the same thing happened, only slower.

Angus' heart stopped beating, his body devoid of blood. Gregg clung to his boyfriend, desperately needing him to stay with him. He kept pressure on the red towel while he tried to speak to the bear. His closed eyes refused to look into his lover's eyes and his closed mouth refused to give his lover last words. Bea covered her mouth with her hand as she knelt down and put her other hand on Gregg's back. The room was thick with anguish and despair, slow sobs echoing through the dark, empty rooms of the house. A cold wind blew into the room through the door, chilling the grieving fox and the puddle of crimson he sat in, and the room stood still. It hadn't been a rather calm night.


	12. Regretting, Reminiscing, and Restarting

It wasn't easy to explain away Angus' death to everyone. Of course, the four knew, as well as Mr. Warton and Aunt Mallcop. They knew, and helped keep people from suspecting murder or something like that. Gregg almost let it out a couple times, wanted to get revenge. He wanted to have everyone that could've even _possibly_ contributed to his death out in jail, but he kept quiet. He knew he had to. Aunt Mallcop assured all the citizens that he had tripped in the middle of the night while making a snack, falling on the knife, which was a plausible story since they'd completely destroyed any evidence of the cultist being there. And, Mae's aunt reiterated that there was no service by the murder site, so the four were of no fault for not calling authorities. She did all that she could to help the four.

Gregg stayed in town longer than he said he was. He wailed while staying at the hotel, eliciting complaints from the other inhabitants, only to be distant and silent when meeting up with the other three. He tried to stay strong, but failed most times. Bea and Mae mostly left him alone to grieve. Mae barely even spoke for a week, being so distant. She knew Angus. He'd fixed her computer, played in the band, and he'd been there for Gregg for forever. Mae couldn't even imagine how Gregg could feel. She wanted to help, say something to comfort him, assure him everything would be alright, but she came up with nothing. Instead she'd just lean her head onto Gregg's shoulder and wrap her arm around him.

The few times Gregg _did_ talk that first week, he blamed himself. He said that he should have believed Mae, and that he was an idiot for not believing her. He even went so far to say that he might still be alive if he'd just listened. Bea, the one who seemed to stay the strongest, quickly told him not to think that, that he wasn't blame. Gregg would usually blow Bea off with a scoff and a cynical, hoarse "sure".

The funeral was too much for Gregg. Just _seeing_ the coffin was unbearable, but then he noticed who was there. Him, Bea, Mae, Germ, Mae's aunt, and Germ's dad were pretty much it. Only someone who claimed to be Angus' cousin came from his family. It broke Gregg's already broken heart. Not even in death could his family just simply _care_ about him. They were the worst shits Gregg had ever known.

Everyone who was there gave the strongest words they could about Angus before they buried him. They all explained how kind and selfless he was. Then they watched him get lowered into the ground. Gregg, despite his determined attempts, failed to keep himself from crying at this point. Bea assured that it was okay for him to cry. That it was normal and that he didn't have to hide it.

After the funeral, Gregg roamed town, stopping at places he and Angus used to go to or stay at often. His old, still vacant apartment drove him to tears. He still couldn't even comprehend it: Angus was gone. Gregg had seen Angus almost all day, every day for forever, now he wouldn't see him ever again.

Gregg wasn't too sure what to do with himself. Of course his apartment and his job still waited in Spring Harbor, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to bear going back. His apartment would have Angus' clothes sitting in the closet, his yogurt in the fridge, his computer on the bed, his smell lingering in the air. Gregg had worked to get there, but he hadn't worked alone, and now he wasn't sure if he'd be able to work alone anymore. He was alone, his other half buried six feet below him.

Gregg, having settled into Bea's couch, brought it up. "...So, I'm don't really want to go back to my apartment, y'know, cause of…" He swallowed, "everything... I kinda just wanna be around one of you guys for a while, but I kinda need to go back cause of my job and bills and all that adult shit, so…"

Mae shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Bea looked over to her. Then, Bea looked back to Gregg to speak. "Well, _I've_ always wanted to move to the city. Mae?"

Mae shifted her eyes over to Bea upon hearing her name. "I mean, I've _thought_ about it…"

Bea looked back to Gregg. "Well then, we could try to move to Spring Harbor, too. Y'know? Move into the same apartment building as you or something— keep ya company."

Gregg smiled weakly. "Yeah, I guess. When would you do that?"

Bea thought for a moment. "At the soonest, maybe a few months."

"I guess I could wait that long." Gregg paused, rubbing his eye with his hand. "God, you guys are the best. Thank you for being there, so much." His eyes began to water as he embraced the others in a tight hug.

Gregg left town a couple days later, fiercely trying to ignore the implications of the clothes in his bag or the half empty box of tissues on the dashboard. He gave heartfelt goodbyes to his friends in Possum Springs and drove away in his car. He called Mae and Bea several times while still on the road.

Bea begrudgingly took over ownership of the Ol' Pickaxe after her father's death. The shop expanded business out into some other things to try and earn more money. Bea wished several that she could just quit, but her and Mae had promised to move to Spring Harbor with Gregg, and she wasn't gonna break that promise. Mae slowly but steadily climbed up the ranks of her job. After many months, surprisingly diligent efforts, and some higher-ups moving away, she had managed to get promoted to general manager.

Soon, the two managed to get enough money to move away. Mae gave away her position and Bea sold the store to a very enthusiastic employee. After their own goodbyes, they drove away to the city. Germ followed a bit over a year later.

The citizens of Possum Springs eventually ended up dying or moving away. The town died a slow death, its buildings collapsing and its population diminishing. The woods began to reclaim the town with no one left to maintain it.

Bea and Mae ended up getting married after a couple years of living in Spring Harbor, both of them learning how to deal with the other. Both Mae and Bea had felt that love for years, neither working up the courage to propose, however. Bea finally did it on their anniversary. Even after everything had been said and done, Mae still couldn't believe everything had happened to her because of her coming back home from college.


End file.
